FSU football: A glance at Syracuse by the numbers

FSU football will look to continue its winning ways when they host the Syracuse Orange on Saturday at noon ET. The Noles enter the contest as -17.5 betting favorites, with a points total of 56.5. Those odds imply a 37-19 win for the Noles.

The Orange are coming off a 40-7 beatdown against North Carolina and a hard-fought loss against Clemson the week before. Syracuse beat one Power5 team (Purdue) before entering conference play, with all their other wins against Colgate, Western Michigan, and Army.

Here’s how they stack up by the numbers:

• 33 ppg
• 19 ppg allowed
• 6.09 ypp
• 4.79 ypp allowed
• 4.50 ypc
• 3.04 ypc allowed
• 49.38 percent third downs converted
• 39 percent third downs converted allowed

-Offensive FEI(opponent adjusted with garbage time removed): No. 33 nationally

-Defensive FEI (opponent adjusted with garbage time removed): No. 52 nationally

Thoughts

Syracuse is a different team against legitimate competition. Their two games against Clemson and North Carolina are light years different than the first four. They averaged 3.10 yards per rush in their two conference games, granted Clemson’s defense is among the best nationally.

Garrett Shrader completed 59 percent of his passes, two touchdowns, and three interceptions in those two games. He has completed 64.6 percent on the season The Syracuse offensive line has allowed 16 sacks and 34 tackles for a loss through six games.

FSU has allowed six sacks and 17 tackles for a loss through five games.

Defensively, Syracuse allows 3.95 yards per rush and 164 rush yards per game. The defense has allowed opposing offenses to complete 65 percent of their passes for five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

They have allowed an average of 352 yards through the air in two conference games, granted one of those quarterbacks was Drake Maye at North Carolina. One thing they do well is create tackles for a loss. They had 13 against Clemson and six against North Carolina.

If FSU stays in front of the chains offensively and limits Shrader, they should be fine. We’ll delve into more film and tendencies as the week progresses.